Iowa Couple Convicted After Luring Woman To RV, Torturing Her For 18 Days

Two Iowa residents face lengthy prison sentences after they were convicted of holding a woman captive for 18 days and abusing her.

Aldair Hodza, 36, and Laura Sorensen, 31, will serve almost 42 years and 40 years behind bars respectively, following the decision issued by District Judge Henry Hudson on Friday.

The court heard that the couple persuaded the young woman, who is now in her early 20s, to come in to their RV on Christmas Eve 2014, before drugging her and having sex with her, the Richmond Times-Disptach reported.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks for watching!

They then held her captive and tortured her by burning her with items heated over a stove, driving nails into her feet, and pouring bleach in her wounds.

During the 18 days of abuse, the couple drove the RV across the country. They were reportedly heading to Virginia to visit one of Hodza's daughters.

“[The victim] may never be able to have a normal relationship because of the unusual and rare level of depravity in this case,” Hudson said, according to Daily Mail.

They also reportedly forced her to have sex with men who responded to their online ads, and Sorense collected money from the men.

The victim was threatened with death, including on one occasion when the family’s pet dog was shot and thrown in a rubbish heap. The couple warned the victim that she faced the same fate.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks for watching!

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks for watching!

The court was told that Hodza has an 8-year-old daughter who was in the RV at the time and witnessed some of the abuse.

The defense based their case on claims that Hodza and Sorensen were abused as children.

“This is monstrous, horrible, senseless, inexplicable, inexcusable,” Hodza said by way of apology before his sentencing. “I offer sincere apologies. I know that doesn't mean much because I can't take back what happened.”

“I made a bad choice. However, I am not a bad person,” Sorensen said.

Hudson told Hodza that he had a “dangerously dark side.”

“Some of the things you did to this young lady are so horrifying you cannot capture it in words,” the judge added.

The woman was finally rescued when a trucker in New Kent County, Virginia, spotted her looking distressed and malnourished in the window of the RV. He called the police.

According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, the victim was so traumatized by her ordeal that she is still receiving psychological support.